Report shows PV equipment book-to-bill ratio dropping below parity for the first time in the past six quarters

SAN JOSE, Calif. – September 21, 2011 – SEMI, the global industry association serving the manufacturing supply chain for the micro- and nano-electronics industries, today reported that worldwide photovoltaic manufacturing equipment billings reached $2.03 billion for the quarter ended on June 30, 2011. Billings increased 17 percent quarter-over-quarter, after declining 19 percent in Q1’11. Worldwide bookings, however, extended last quarter’s decline, down 18 percent from the previous quarter to $1.79 billion, reaching a five-quarter low. For the first time in the past six quarters, the book-to-bill ratio dipped below parity to 0.88.

“We are pleased to offer the PV equipment market statistics data to provide our members and the industry-at-large primary market data and to monitor the cyclical trends in the industry,” said Bettina Weiss, executive director of the PV Group at SEMI. “Photovoltaic equipment billings remain higher than levels a year ago. However, bookings have dropped significantly consistent with the softening of market demand and the over capacity situation.”

The worldwide PV equipment billings and bookings data is gathered jointly with the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) from about 50 global equipment companies that provide data on a quarterly basis.

Source: SEMI & VDMA, Sept 2011

Today SEMI also announced the release of the Worldwide Photovoltaic Equipment Market Statistics Report, which reports worldwide PV equipment billings and bookings data on a quarterly basis. It is the only PV equipment book-to-bill report based on direct inputs from PV equipment suppliers.

For more information on equipment coverage, reporting categories, data collection methodology, sample report, and how to subscribe, please visit www.semi.org/en/node/38716, or contact SEMI customer service at 1.877.746.7788 (toll free in the U.S.) or 1.408.943.6901 (International Callers).